At least the books whose contents *I* only vaguely remember are more neatly organized.

A desire to spend more time engaging with the vast trove of ideas and information we encounter everyday drove the creation of this site. The intended purpose: to make some of it stick, or extract more value than the momentary intellectual rush of reading things on the internet.

Apparently lots of people experience that gap between input and retention, and not just with articles that pop up in our feeds every day.

Surely some people can read a book or watch a movie once and retain the plot perfectly. But for many, the experience of consuming culture is like filling up a bathtub, soaking in it, and then watching the water run down the drain. It might leave a film in the tub, but the rest is gone.

Wow does that metaphor ring true.

How bad are you at remembering the facts, details, plots, or characters from the media you enjoy?

What tends to stick? What doesn’t?
What makes some things stick and others not?

Bonus topic: people who sleep while cuddling are monsters. T/F?

The New Yorker just finished up a series on the science of sleep, suggesting that essentially, we’re all doing a terrible job of it.

According to the article, not getting enough quality sleep reduces our ability to do all kinds of things well — to the point where most people are never really operating at 100% — and even carries health risks long term.

So let’s say you have two solutions:

1) You can get an injection that permanently reduces the amount of sleep you need in a night by half. You’ll still sleep about as well as you do now, you can just get by with, say, 3.5 hours per night instead of 7.

2) You can take a pill once a week that allows you to fall asleep immediately whenever you decide to, and wake up feeling refreshed and alert. You can do this as many times per day as you prefer, so you could theoretically break up that sleep however is most efficient or practical for your schedule. But, you still need to get the same amount per day to keep from feeling tired, only now you can be sure that you’ll be fully recharged when you wake up.

Which way of sleeping would make your life easier, more productive or more satisfying?

If choosing less sleep, how would you use the extra time? What could you do that you couldn’t now?

If choosing better sleep, how would you schedule your day? How would it affect your daily life for the better?